Private Schools

Editor: The Harford county Board of Education's opposition to any public money for non-public schools, while regrettable, is understandable. The board sees no responsibility for the education of Harford County children not in their corporate system; the board's business is preserving its monopoly on education tax dollars for their corporation; however, your editorial of Dec. 2 is a chilling, exclusionary and discriminatory statement not shared by all Marylanders. Many Maryland voters support school choice reforms and policies so parents aren't economically denied freedom of school choice.

The Maryland State Private School baseball championship game between St. Frances Academy and The Heights School will be played Saturday, 4 p.m., at Cardinal Gibbons' Babe Ruth Field, 3225 Wilkens Ave.

In the Readers Respond section of The Sun on April 1, Barbara Samuels makes a case against the BOAST tax credit for Maryland private schools. Ms. Samuels assumes that parents who send their children to private schools are "affluent" and welcomes a shift back into public schools. This ignores the many private schools that serve a different population. Schools such as Friendship School in Eldersburg provide a private nonpublic education for 51 children in grades 1 to 8 who have severe language-based learning differences such as dyslexia.

When the second annual President's Cup baseball tournament came to an end Saturday -- with Mount St. Joseph beating last year's champion, Gilman, 12-11 -- the event's creator was already looking ahead to next year's tournament. Baltimore City Council president Bernard C. "Jack" Young, whose idea it was to bring city public school teams and private teams together in a city-wide tournament, said he'd like to see a clinic as part of the event, as well as an All-Star game featuring some of the best players from the other teams participating.

I was happy to see the "school choice" article in today's Baltimore Sun ( "National movement for 'school choice' embraced in city," Feb. 3). Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso and many of the charter schools in our city should be applauded for what they are doing and have accomplished. Certainly, more choice rather than less choice is beneficial to Baltimore City children and families looking for the best education that they can obtain. People interested in the topic of school choice should keep in mind that full and true "school choice" must allow parents to consider sending their children to non-public schools in our city as well as public schools.

1/8 TC The sagging economy, which has produced its share of disputes over budget cuts and teacher pay in public schools, has been felt in the non-public schools as well.There was concern that economic problems could reduce enrollment, but as schools open, the expectation is that enrollment will be stable in both Catholic and independent schools in the Baltimore area. While some families may have stayed away from private schools this year because of the cost, school officials say others have turned to private schools because they are concerned about program and staff cuts in the public schools.

Hundreds of private school pupils, parents and teachers gathered at the State House last night to continue a 3-year-old quest to get state aid for Roman Catholic, Jewish and other nonpublic schools.The schools are seeking $14 million to pay for expenses such as textbooks and technology improvements.Last night, children held up signs saying, "It's about time!" and "We want our fair share," but the lobbying effort might fail this year.Gov. Parris N. Glendening did not fund the request in his proposed budget unveiled last week, and a spokeswoman says he does not plan to include such funding in a supplemental budget.

THE ISSUE OF public aid to private schools is divisive, pitting advocates of education against each other. But this fight can be avoided in a way that increases income for all Maryland schools while preserving the state's non-involvement in private education. We can create such a win-win scenario by establishing an educational materials buying consortium that would include public and private schools. The consortium would buy textbooks and other items, ranging from paper and pencils to desks and lab equipment.

Melville French Heath II, an avid traveler and a self-trained guitarist who grew coveted peonies and taught French and Spanish at private schools in the city as well as Baltimore and Cecil counties, died April 12 of a heart attack. The retired teacher, who moved to Southport, N.C., last year and was building a home along the Cape Fear River with his companion, Ethel Taylor, was 69. Mr. Heath was born in Massachusetts, the youngest of three boys. His father worked in insurance and his mother ran the household while maintaining a boutique clothing business on the side.

As soon as my husband walks through the front door, I usually can tell whether the high school baseball team he helps coach has won a game. A slow shuffle into the kitchen means a loss. A hearty hello means a win. But lately, wins by double digits have left him feeling defeated. His team is participating in the second annual President's Cup, a tournament in which nine of Baltimore's public high school baseball teams compete against seven private city school teams, with the championship game to be held next Saturday at Camden Yards - pretty heady stuff for any kid. The goals of the tournament, initiated by Baltimore City Council PresidentBernard C. "Jack" Young, are to reignite a passion for baseball among the city's youth, raise money to renovate city ball fields (as of March 24, it had raised $166,000)

As a certified athletic trainer at Archbishop Spalding, T.J. Morgan considers himself fortunate. He has never had to deal with a catastrophic situation in 14 years of administering to Cavaliers student-athletes. Such situations are rare, but should he face one, Morgan, like dozens of other trainers working in high schools all over the Baltimore area, is prepared. "The educational competencies for athletic trainers are changing and there's a greater concept of emergency management, of recognizing emergency situations and being able to act accordingly," said Morgan, who is also the president of the Maryland Athletic Trainers Association.

Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young's 2012 President's Cup "Growing the Game" initiative kicked off Saturday with ball-field renovations at Forest Park. Young used the event at to unveil the initiative, a campaign designed to give young people the chance to play on safe, well-maintained baseball fields, Young's office said. Athletes from local public and private high schools paired up with the Orioles' ground crew and Brickman Sports Turf to improve three public fields, according to Young's office.

The President's Cup was created to bring public and private schools together on the city's baseball fields. In this, its second year, the event is being expanded to include a public service project and a financial campaign to raise money to improve and maintain Baltimore's baseball fields. On Thursday, at a kickoff news conference, the Cup's mastermind, Baltimore City Council president Bernard C. "Jack" Young, said representatives from most of the 16 participating teams will meet Saturday morning at Forest Park and Joseph Lee Park "to help clean up five overgrown public baseball fields [three baseball and two softball]

Archbishop Curley senior Avery Williams didn't waste time accepting an invitation to the Haswell Franklin Maryland State Wrestling Association Senior All-Star Meet. He said he couldn't refuse the offer and made the best of the event which was held at McDaniel College on Tuesday. Williams walked away as the meet's outstanding heavy weight wrestler. "I had a lot of fun," Williams said. Williams pinned both of his opponents Tuesday to increase his pin count for the season to 37. "I use the Avery Special," said Williams, who pinned his opponents in 2 minutes and 41 seconds and 0:14.

With 49 seconds left in the 132-pound final at Saturday's Franklin Invitational, John Carroll freshman Chris Scott was trailing by two points. He knew he had to do something, and do it fast. When the match restarted, Scott knew he needed a takedown just to tie. And he and his opponent, top-seeded Owings Mills senior Zach Shapiro, both went for it. Shapiro seemed to have gotten the advantage, but he couldn't hold it as Scott scooted away and got the advantage. And then, quick as a blink, the freshman had the senior on his back for a near fall.

Owings Mills wrestling coach Guy Pritzker had to smile following the first day of the Franklin Invitational. Heading into the tournament, Pritzker had heard No. 7 John Carroll and No. 9 Curley were hoping to make a point against his fifth-ranked squad. But after Friday's quarterfinal round, the Eagles have nine wrestlers advancing to the semis, and they lead the scoring at the 17-team event with 100.5 points. He still made a point not to fuel the fire. "It's only the first day," Pritzker said.